title: Nutritional and microbial analysis of bully sticks and survey of opinions about pet treats.
abstract: The objectives of this study were to measure the caloric density of bully sticks, to analyze the bully sticks for bacterial contamination, and to assess owner opinions about these and other pet treat products. Mean caloric density was 15 kcal/inch (38 kcal/cm) [range: 9 to 22 kcal/inch (23 to 56 kcal/cm), 2.96 to 3.07 kcal/g]. Of 26 bully sticks that were tested for bacterial contamination 1 (4%) was contaminated with Clostridium difficile, 1 was contaminated with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and 1 with a tetracycline resistant Escherichia coli.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences, Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, North Grafton, MA, USA. lisa.freeman@tufts.edu
authors.forename: Lisa M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Freeman
authors.forename: Nicol
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Janecko
authors.forename: J Scott
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Weese
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed / Q000032:analysis* / Q000382:microbiology*; D000818:Animals; D002170:Canada; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D004285:Dogs; D002149:Energy Intake / Q000502:physiology*; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D005516:Food Microbiology; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary; D014481:United States